


How The Mighty Fall

by astrologiic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Minor Character Death, Multi, Slow Burn, Torture, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9486731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrologiic/pseuds/astrologiic
Summary: ❝My father built our empire on the backs of our enemies,❞ The arena was dead silent. He continued with power in his voice. ❝The universe can no longer doubt our strength.The Prince strolled forward, his footsteps echoing off the walls of the silent arena. The Prince stopped in front of a prisoner's corpse. ❝Each ally gained only makes us stronger. All those who continue to stand against us,❞ The Prince raised his foot, bringing it down on the prisoner's head and crushing their skull with one blow.The Prince raised his head towards the crowd, making eye contact with the paladin. He smirked, digging his heel and twisting.❝Will be crushed.❞





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prologue. Although it may say the story is finished, keep in mind this hellfest hasn't even started. ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge manages to break down a certain code with some help.

It all starts with one little code.

One little code that is embarrassingly hard to crack, as much as Pidge hates to admit it.

Pidge narrows her tired eyes at the screen in front of her and once again removes her glasses to get a better look. After their latest raid, Pidge had managed to collect a ton of Galra information, including locations, blueprints to their latest ship designs, top secret files, prisoner records, etc. Anything that could really aid them in their fight against the Galra, Pidge has been paying extra attention to and using to their advantage. To _her_ advantage to finish the rest of her mission and find her dad.

But this code. This tiny, short little coding that she just can't decipher is driving her crazy. It's nothing she's ever seen before. It doesn't make any sense to her, and that's saying a lot.

She nibbles on her bottom lip in concentration as she tries going for Plan C. Maybe if she tries something else, or maybe hacking into the system from another starting point—

Her bedroom door slides open.

The sudden sound has her sitting straight, brown eyes snapping from her screen to peer at the sudden light making it's way through the dark bedroom. A very startled Hunk stands at the doorway, letting out a high-pitched yelp that could give even Lance a run for his money.

"Omg," Hunk breathes deeply, his free hand pressed over his heart. He gives her an accusing stare. "I swear to god, Lance was right. You _are_ an owl."

The comparison brings her pride. She always thought owls were pretty awesome anyway, so it's quite the compliment.

"Sorry," She chuckles sheepishly, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Hunk, after making sure yet again he isn't dead, sighs and shrugs. "It's cool." He takes a look around the dark room and frowns, raising an eyebrow and raising a finger to point at the lights. "Hey, should I—"

Pidge already knows what he's going to ask, "No."

"Okay, okay," Hunk holds his free hand up in surrender. He holds out a plate of what appears to be chocolate chip cookies, and that alone makes her mouth water. "I brought you a snack. Thought you might be hungry after long hours of work. I know I'd be."

The green paladin raises a questioning eyebrow. Despite the fact she can see that yes, they are real, she just _has_ to tease him. She has to. "Real cookies this time?"

"Haha, very funny."

Pidge scoots over, leaving him space to sit. She makes grabby motions at the snack, " _Gimme, gimmie,_ I'm starving."

Hunk strolls over and sits down beside her, peering and the computer screen and holding out the plate of cookies for her to grab (not before casually plucking one from the group and taking a bite out of it). "So, how's it going? You've been cooped up here for hours."

"Ugh, don't even remind me," Pidge grumbles, rubbing her strained eyes. Now that she's turned her focus away, she notices how tired she really is, "I can't get through it."

"Intergalactic firewall?" Hunk suggests, stuffing the rest of his cookie in his mouth without tearing his eyes away from the screen.

Pidge shakes her head and sighs. "I thought so too, but no. There's no firewall detected."

Hunk frowns and narrows his eyes at the code on the screen. He takes a moment to examine it carefully before he glances back at Pidge and offers, "...Uh, intergalactic _ghost_ firewall?"

She loves Hunk, she really does, and she appreciates him trying to help, but an intergalactic ghost firewall doesn't seem to be the issue. "This is why I'm the brains and you're the mechanic, Hunk," She says calmly.

Hunk shrugs, taking another cookie from the plate and munching on it. "You're not wrong."

The two paladins stare at the screen for a little more. Pidge uses this time to finally end her hunger and take a bite on a cookie. The sweet taste of chocolate quickly fills her mouth.

Okay, scratch that. Hunk is a sustenance mastermind. This guy can do anything.

"Maybe," Hunk's reluctant tone snaps Pidge out of her thoughts. He's scratching his chin and glances at Pidge from the side. "It's not a code at all?"

"What?" She asks in disbelief. "What do you mean? It's literally in a code form."

"Nonono," Hunk waves his hand. "What I'm saying is maybe this isn't a code you have to decipher. Maybe the message is right there."

Pidge blinks, realizing what Hunk was stating. It's already clicking together. "You're saying it's hidden in plain site?"

"I mean, yeah," Hunk quickly switches up and rubs the back of his neck. "but I could be wrong, I don't really know about—"

"No, no, no," Pidge cuts him off quickly, she waves a finger at him. "You're on to something. It makes perfect sense. The symbols don't appear to be Galran at all."

They really don't. This is something different. And a different possibility crosses her mind. It's the only thing that would make sense. But now that she takes a look at it, the way the code itself is set up is familiar in a way. Her eyes widen when it finally clicks.

"Hunk," She states in awe. "You're a genius,"

"What?" He asks, confused.

"It's not a code... it's _coordinates_."

They exchange glances. Hunk's brown eyes widen, and what she's implying seems to click in his brain right away. "A distress signal."


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission is started, but not without some difficulties.

The coordinates take them right to a planet named Torwen.

According to Matt, Torwen's a very, very advanced society similar to Earth. In a way, Lance can see it. The sky is a bright blue, just like back home. The clouds, too, are similar pearly white. The grass and trees, however, are a vibrant shade of violet, and there's two smaller suns instead of one. While that does snap him out of his little trance, his heart still does flips when he looks at the city below.

"Whoa," Keith breathes out. Lance doesn't have to see him to understand Keith's also sharing the same thoughts he is.

"It's..." Hunk starts, but he falters.

Lance knows what they're trying to say. It's like home.

"Like an alien New York City," Lance jokes through the lump in his throat instead. "It's awesome."

"Ah. This, is the city of Preei," Coran tells them wistfully through the comms. "Very intricate village of it's time. Greatest trading port in it's entire galaxy. I remember like it was yesterday."

"Not so much anymore," Matt's voice is grim compared to Coran's lightheartedness, and it kills the mood entirely. "Ever since the war, it's become more of a rebel base. Underground systems and illegal activity spiked up around here ever since the invasions. I was even stationed here for a while for a mission that went pretty well. They've stayed on the down low from the Galra as nothing but a site of entertainment for as long as they could."

As long as they could. The idea of what kind of punishment the Galra had for the people of Preei has Lance clenching his fists around the handles of his lion. He hates how there's so many options.

"So this distress signal..." Hunk trails off. The nervousness is obvious in voice.

"Bad news," Pidge sums up for him. "very bad news. They need our help."

"Which is why we gotta hurry," Shiro gets straight to the point with the statement. "Lives are at stake and it's our job to do something about it."

"We must be very careful," Allura warns. She's stationed in the castle with Coran and Matt for this mission, so Lance's piloting the Blue Lion once again. "The Galra are crawling the streets, it's unsafe to let our guard down just yet, even with the new cloaking devices. Pidge, anything else about where we're headed?"

Furious beeping is an easy indicator that Pidge's fingers are darting over the pad. "The exact coordinates are leading us right to..." She trails off unexpectedly, a worrying pause filling the silence. "right to the center of the city."

"...What?" Lance can pretty much hear Shiro's frown. "That can't be right."

"Well, that's what it says," Pidge tells him.

"It could be a trap," Keith's immediately jumping to the worst case scenario. "To draw us in."

"I don't think so," Lance is surprised to hear how confident Hunk when he shares his own thought. "It's not a smart move to just plant a distress signal in the middle of a city. Not very Galra either."

"What does that even mean?" Keith groans, exasperated.

Hunk takes a deep breath. "This might be crazy, and I'm probably wrong, but I think we're overlooking it."

The idea has Lance twisting his head a little and raising an eyebrow. Overlooking something so obvious? "Overlooking it? Now you're losing me big guy."

"The signal is in the center, but there's nothing about where in the center. Matt, you said something about underground systems, right?"

"...Yeah," Matt says slowly, optimism is creeping into his tone. He's picking up on Hunk's theory. Lance is surprised he can't hear the gears starting to work in his brains at an increasing speed. "You don't think..."

"The signal's underground," Shiro realizes. "Hunk, you're a genius. Nice job."

A sheepish chuckle comes from Hunk's end. "Heh, I know."

Lance can't help but roll his eyes fondly at that. He just can't. He's proud of his friend's Sherlock Holmes moment. 

"Now that we have that sorted out," Keith says. "How do we get there then?"

"Voltron's obviously out. Same with the lions, they're also dead giveaways." Allura announces. "Look's like you'll be taking this mission on by foot. Right through the city grounds."

"Problem? That's also a dead giveaway."

"We never said without disguises~" Coran states in a singsong voice.

There's a chorus of groans from the other paladins. Oh no.

* * *

Lance enjoyed watching reality tv shows with his older siblings sometimes. It was interesting to see all the designs and it was just fun to just shriek at the TV with his siblings. Those were the nights popcorn would be all over the floor

Now, he feels like he's on an edgy Galra version of Project Runaway and he doesn't know how he should feel about it.

Coran and Matt had a very long debate on the disguises, but they both managed to settle on simple cloaks and (stolen) druid masks to go along with it. The five of them are now dressed in the surprisingly, very comfy outfits.

Lance rolls with it. Going on an undercover mission in comfort? Hell yeah, now this is his kind of style. This is, until, the thought of how much harm the druids have caused being this comfortable creeps into Lance's mind and chills him to the bone. 

Now, he's not so sure he likes posing as a druid.

"Don't worry too much about the heights," Matt assures Lance with a pat on the back. He's not exactly on the same track as Lance but he appreciates the gesture anyway. "The druids usually come in all sizes, so it's normal for them to be a little shorter than other Galra."

Matt then glances at Pidge, and his lips curl into a teasing smile. "Well, not that short."

Pidge sticks her tongue out. "Wow, that's so funny and original."

Matt snickers and hands Lance one of the masks. Now that Lance has a closer look at it, he can see the little cracks and lines where Matt had to glue them back together. He already has a good idea of what ending they had before this, so that makes him feel a little better about the whole situation. They had it coming, after all.

"Alright," Allura takes one look at the cloaks and wrinkles her nose in obvious disgust. Lance doesn't really blame her one bit. "Here's the plan. Pidge, the visual?"

"Already on it," In a few seconds, She's got an birds eye view of Preei pulled up on a hologram, the city covered in dots of three colors. A single blue dot is placed right on their destination. "This, is where we should be headed. The purple stand for Galra Hubs, spots we'd be better off going around."

Lance lets his eyes drift over the screen and notices there's one, blinking red dot, a little farther down from the spot they're headed. He frowns, "what's that?"

"What's what?"

"That, the little blinking red dot."

Everyone's attention snaps to the screen.

Pidge turns her own focus on the screen and blinks a few times, confusion quickly on her face. "That's weird... that wasn't there before."

Keith furrows his eyebrows and reaches out, poking the red dot with no hesitation. In doing so, it zooms in on the area, showing what appears to be a platform, heavily crowded with Galra soldiers. They're hauling supplies and to the stage, like boxes and weapons and Lance rubs his eyes a few times when he notices—pigs? Space pigs?

"What are they even doing?" The question rolls right of Lance's tongue.

"Are they... having a concert or something?" Hunk asks after a long pause of silence.

"No... It appears to be some sort of show." Allura's eyebrows disappear into her hairline as she watches them bring a live, pig like animal to the podium "Like the shows we held for the coalition."

Shiro hasn't shared a single opinion. Instead, his stony eyes are glued right on the screen, and Lance lets his own gaze follow, right on a Galra general marching right beside the pig and preparing his gun.

Lance's stomach is dropping when said general is aiming at the animal's head, and the trigger's being pulled back.

The shot has everyone in the room tensing, and suddenly, Lance is realizes what will be happening on that stage.

"It's not a show," Shiro finally says something, and Lance, with all his heart, wishes he didn't. "It's a public execution."


	3. Chapter 3

They've found the source of distress, and from Shiro sees, it's grave. Now, there's no hesitation to find the signal itself.

Their plan is tweaked and modified a little bit, seeing that they may be a little in over their heads. Matt's doing whatever he can by contacting rebel forces, while Keith plays his part and explains the situation to Kolivan. They need as many reinforcements as they can get in a dire amount of time. Everyone else stands together and goes over their situation once more.

Shiro's seen many things from the empire. The gruesome gladiator rings, the dimly lit cells, the careless yet attentive experiments on prisoners. He himself had been a victim to all three, losing his arm and receiving a bionic powerhouse as a limb, plus a harsh case of PTSD and amnesia in return. Honestly, he got more than he gave.

To put it lightly, he would really like a refund.

This, however, has Shiro infuriated beyond belief. Taking planets by force and when they resist rightfully, kill them out. In their own land, their own cities, their own homes.

It's not fair, and it's not right.

"Shiro?" Keith's voice has Shiro snapping out of his thoughts. He turns to face Keith, who's watching him with a look of concern. "You're shaking, you okay?"

Shiro blinks. At that moment he realizes just how tightly clenched his jaw is, and how his hands shake under the stress. With a surprising amount of difficulty, he relaxes his jaw and takes in a deep breath. There's no room for blinding anger in his system, especially in a situation like this, and he knows this. People are depending on him and he has to be in top shape to help them.

He exhales through his nose and closes his eyes. "Sorry, it's just..."

"I get it," Keith says. He has his arms crossed against his chest and his dark eyebrows knit together. "I'm pissed off too."

Even with his calm demeanor, Shiro can read him like a book. That's the thing with Keith, the kid has one hell of a temper. When Shiro had first met Keith, he was, to put it bluntly, all over the place.

He's been working on it though with methods Shiro had taught him before (little tips and tricks that helped Shiro with his own frustrations and anger). There were still little things about him that warned of an outburst, like the way his eye would twitch, or the way he rubbed his thumb over his clenched fists to avoid driving it into the nearest object. Needless to say, the kid has improved greatly, and Shiro's proud of the person standing beside him today.

"The Blade of Marmora is on their way," Keith speaks up, letting him and the others know after a few seconds of silence. "It'll take a little while for them to get here though."

"Same with the rebels," Matt says. He's got his own druid cloak on now and it's a little weird to see him in it if Shiro has to be honest. "Olia and Rolo mentioned they'd get here in about fifteen with the rest of the team."

"Good," Allura's also throwing on one of the dark druid cloaks briskly, despite her disgust. Shiro can see it in the way her nose crinkles up as she adjusts it, but she moves on quickly. She turns her focus to the mission in hand. "We must get moving without them until then. Lance, Hunk, you two will be in the crowd and update us in on what's happening behind the camera. Stay hidden and within the Torweians at all times."

Lance's infamous smirk crosses his face and he salutes. He doesn't hesitate to shoot her a little wink while he's at it. "Will do, Princess."

Hunk, on the other hand, has a very different reaction compared to Lance's. He sighs and slumps a little in his seat, "No pressure."

"Keith, Shiro, Matt, you three will scout the city with the Blades and the other rebels," Allura tells them. "Check for any Galra street activity. Do whatever you can. Stall any transportation of weapons and reinforcements to the execution if you must. We cannot let them go through with this."

Keith nods, his eyes narrowed and determination written on his face.

"You got it, Princess," Shiro says.

"You can count on us!" Matt exclaims eagerly, starry-eyed. He doesn't bother to hide the dopey, lovesick grin on his face. He even stands a little straighter. "We won't let you down!"

The low hiss from Lance shows he's not too keen on hiding his feelings either. Despite that, Allura grants Matt a small smile, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

The look of dramatic betrayal on Lance's face is just priceless.

Coran gives Lance a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and Shiro has to force down a chuckle. Maybe next time, Lance.

"You guys do that," Pidge says absently. She's staring at the blinking blue dot that marks their destination. "but there's still the distress signal. We have to know what's down there, and who exactly managed to send it. Especially under high maintenance like this. We still don't know if they're also in need of an extraction or not, but we do know they put the distress signal there for a reason."

Hunk frowns at Pidge, concern on his face. "Alone? Down there? In an unfamiliar, underground spooky place? _Alone?_ "

Shiro's not too much of a fan of the idea either. It's not that he doesn't trust Pidge, he knows she's capable of great things. She's taken many opponents out and achieved things all by herself. It was thanks to Pidge they took back control of the Castle months back, and it was thanks to Pidge for snapping the team out of it when they were under the influence of dark magic. Out of all of them, it's cunning, resourceful Pidge that's the best choice for this portion of the mission.

At the same time, this is completely new territory. If anything, the Galra placed here have a better advantage on them because they are more familiar with Prei.

"She won't be," Allura speaks up calmly, "I'm going with her."

Apparently, this is news to Pidge because she whips her head in the direction of Allura and stares at her with wide eyes. "You are?"

"I am," She confirms, straightening up a little and folding her hands together in front of her. "Like Hunk said, we don't know exactly will be down there waiting for us. We must be prepared for anything.

"Besides," Allura continues, "I remember trips my family and I would take here. I'm quite familiar with the area if it hasn't hopefully changed too much."

"Oh!" Matt's hand shoots up lightning fast, and Shiro's reminded of past Garrison memories. "Like I said, I was stationed here months before. I can maybe send you the directions and recommend the best shortcuts. I just gotta sync the data of the castle and we'll be set. You can do that for me, right Coran?"

Coran's already bounding over to transfer the data and throwing up a thumbs up for him. "I am already on it, Number Six!"

"Color-coded though, right?" Pidge asks Matt, a grin creeping up her face.

The same creepy grin is sneaking up Matt's face. "Uh, duh, what are we-"

"Yeah, yeah, animals, ha," Lance groans, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, let's go already, I can't stand this nerd talk."

"Then it's settled," Shiro announces. "Good luck, everybody. Let's go."

With that, the group separates as they head out into the lush, lilac forest and towards the city.

* * *

 

The setting of Prei is far from what Allura once remembered.

She remembers the energy of their famous marketplace. She remembers the diverse assortments of foods, clothing, and a whole range of other goods originating from all corners of the universe. She the memories she and her family shared every time they'd take a well-needed getaway from the castle, and the matching necklaces they all got as a souvenir. Prei was a paradise.

Where a vibrant, universal site for trade and diplomacy once stood is now nothing but another Galra post. The marketplaces are either trashed or gone and in their places, Galra posts and sentries litter the streets. Graffiti takes over the walls and spray bottles lay abandoned. There's not a single Torweian in sight. Probably at that...awful ceremony.

Torwen—beautiful, lively Torwen—is now nothing but another broken planet that has fallen victim to Galra Imperialism. The suns are out and the sky is a striking blue, but nothing can change that fact.

Allura's lips curl back into a snarl behind her mask. _Parasites._

"Princess," Pidge whispers. Allura doesn't realize Pidge is holding her wrist until she gives it a gentle squeeze. They're both hidden from sight in the shade of an alleyway. "C'mon, we gotta keep going."

She's right, and Allura knows this, but an irrational part of her tells her to stay. To take a good look around to see what they've done to the rest of this city, and what she can maybe do to revive it.

Instead, Allura sucks in a deep breath and exhales slowly. That's for later down the road. Liberation comes first. "Yes, you're right. Let's move."

Pidge lets go of Allura's wrist and pushes the fabric of her cloak back to reveal her gauntlet. She pulls up the map to their destination on a hologram. Pidge grumbles something before taking the bottom of her mask and tilting up just enough for Allura to see the light reflect off her glasses. "We're only a good two blocks away from the center," She murmurs.

A block must be some sort of Earth measurement for distance. "I take it these blocks are a good sign."

"Yeah, a very good sign," Pidge says. She's pulling down the druid mask once again and concealing her face. "We're getting close."

This seems like the best time to check in with everyone else. "Current statuses?" Allura asks, keeping her voice low just in case.

 _"We're in,"_ Hunk's voice is immediately on the comms, just as hushed. _"The crowd is massive, we blend right in."_

 _"They're actually not too picky about who shows up, really. They let us right through like it was no big deal."_ Lance whispers right after Hunk.

 _"That sounds off,"_ Keith comments bluntly, just as fast and just as quiet. _"Did they notice you?"_

_"Wow, Mr. Paranoid, obviously not under these huge-ass disguises."_

" _Still, you don't_ _completely—"_ Keith starts, his tone mildly defensive.

 _"Good,"_ Shiro is interrupting Keith before things can escalate. _"Let's keep it that way. Pidge, Allura, what's your current status?"_

"We're really close," Pidge informs. "The alleyways make for great shortcuts. Should only take about a few dobashes if we play our cards right. We haven't had any issue getting past from Galra troops."

 _"That, or they do notice and they're also scared of the druids,"_ Hunk says.

Keith mumbles something under his breath that sounds a little like, _"can you blame them?"_

 _"Kids, can you lighten up a little?"_ remarks Matt.

Allura doesn't understand the comment but she chooses to ignore it and instead focus on the task at hand. "Shiro, how are things going with you?"

 _"It appears a good majority of the supplies are coming from northeast of the city from what we're gathering from the spies,"_ Shiro says. _"The problem is, it's apparently heavily guarded. Taking out the stock doesn't seem highly likely if we want to stay undercover."_

_Quiznak._

Allura's lips are drawn into a thin line as she quickly decides the second best option. "Do whatever you can to stall then until we get back. Do not let them get those weapons to that platform."

_"Copy that, Princess. Hunk, Lance, anything else happening with you guys?"_

_"At the moment, no..."_ Lance trails off before he continues, his voice quieter than before. _"but, we overheard some people talking about some surprise."_

Pidge is raising her eyebrows and her mouth forms into an o shape. _"Surprise?"_

_"Yeah. I don't know what exactly they're planning but a surprise from the Galra never seems to be a good one."_

Pidge and Allura exchange glances. Even behind the druid mask, she knows that Pidge shares the same somber look she does.

"Keep us updated if anything else happens," Pidge tells him finally. "We better get going."

_"Sounds good."_

_"Good luck, guys."_

_"Stay safe, everyone."_

"Later."

Pidge switches off her comms and peeks her head out from the shelter of the alley wall. After a while, she gives Allura a thumbs up. "Coast is clear. Let's go."

The two of them make a beeline across the street, briskly heading for the alleyway on the other side before they catch the attention of passing Galra sentries. As soon as they make it, Pidge is already gesturing towards the left turn with a tilt of her head, "This way."

They slow down and Allura takes a peek at their next path while Pidge tracks their destination. To their luck, the grimy alleyway is empty of Galra sentries. Just like a good majority of the trails they went down. A good chunk of them must be occupied at the execution.

One's tragedy is another's opportunity.

 _Not today,_ Allura promises herself, and she takes this opportunity to prevent any sort of tragedies happening today. "Clear," She says, moving forwards.

Despite Pidge's claim of being close, the trip on foot plus the neverending twists and turns are making this journey to the center seem like a lifetime. There are a few close calls down the line, like when Pidge ends up stumbling over a thrown out trash bag and nearly taking down Allura with her. Shortly after this experience, the next alleyway they go down is heavily guarded by six sentries, and they quickly take a detour to avoid confrontation. They barely make it, but they do.

It's only when they find themselves in the back of what appears to be a shop, Pidge is checking the map again. "Okay, besides the added length and time, our destination should definitely be very..." She trails off as she focuses on the map and to Allura's surprise, her eyes widen.

"Pidge?" She asks. "Is something wrong?"

"No..." Pidge begins hesitantly, but the next words confuse Allura greatly. "Everything's fine. We've made it, this is the spot."

Allura blinks. "What?" She pulls off her own mask to take a look at the map. Sure enough, they're right on it.

"This is where the signal is coming from."

Allura doesn't believe it. She raises her head to get a better look at her surroundings. They're still in the alleyway, only with less graffiti on the walls and little to no trash on the ground. It's almost like there never was any conflict here. Over her head, there's a sign in Torweit attached to the building reading _ILYN'S COMET: GALACTIC CUISINES_. A few of the letters flicker in and out, but other than that it's completely normal.

"Are you sure...?" Allura questions with a frown.

"Their strategy matches up completely," Pidge explains, confident in her findings. "Concealed in the obvious, just like the coordinates the Galra couldn't crack. It's definitely the place. We've reached the center of the city."

"Alright," Allura scans the mundane building again. Nothing flashy, but at the same time nothing mysterious. It's completely mediocre in her eyes, but she trusts Pidge's intuition. She tugs a little on the handle to the back door, but it fails to budge. "Now, the question is how do we get in?"

Now it's Pidge's turn to frown. Her thick eyebrows knit themselves together as she ponders about the next step. She raises an eyebrow at Allura. "Can't you break the door?"

Allura considers it. She could, yes, but what would that do for them?

"Well, yes," She admits sheepishly. "but it'll cause a ruckus."

"And probably give us away," Pidge adds on. "You're right. We need to keep attention away from ourselves."

Allura examines the door. Nothing special, just a normal door with a normal handle. There has to be something beneath the surface.

"Can you... maybe hack through it?" Allura suggests.

Pidge stares at the door handle for a second. "I don't think so. There's no keypad for me to even hack through..." Pidge is faltering a little before she turns to Allura. "Do you have any bobby pins on you?"

Allura blinks, confused. "Bobby-what?"

Pidge waves her arm. "It's an earth term for a hairpin. Do you have any?"

"I—yes?" Allura still doesn't understand how a hairclip of hers will be of any help. She reaches for one tucking away her bangs and pulls it out. A strand of white hangs over her face and she hands the small accessory to Pidge.

"Sweet," Pidge is taking the "bobby pin" from her hands and immediately twisting it into a different shape. She's then moving to crouch in front of the doorknob, and sticking her hair clip into the lock.

It takes a good two and a half dobashes of Pidge wriggling the pin around before there's a CLICK. The green paladin's lips curl into a satisfied grin and she takes the hairclip out. She's then turning the door handle and pulling it.

The door opens like it wasn't ever locked to begin with. Allura stares at it with awe.

"How did you do that?" She can't help but ask.

Pidge turns her grin to Allura. "I used to sneak into the Garrison to gather information all the time. I had to get in somehow. C'mon."

They walk in, Pidge slowly closing the door behind them.

The two paladins walk through a short hall which leads them into the dine-in. The restaurant is dimly lit by the cracks of sunlight through the covered windows. The chairs are pushed in and each table is neatly organized in a similar fashion. Allura drags her finger over the counter is surprised to see there's a lack of dust despite this. 

Pidge looks behind the counter, mumbling under her breath. She's examining every little thing she gets her hands on. "There's still food here, it must've been an unexpected close. Maybe even just from today because of the execution..."

Allura moves her gaze upwards and follows the light beams from the windows. To her luck, it illuminates a single camera, but there's nothing indicating it's on. 

"We're right over the signal, but we're also not exactly there," Pidge mutters, moving over to where Allura stands with her map once again pulled up. The blue dot still sits.

"Remember what Hunk said," Allura reminds her, eyes still locked on the camera. She turns back to Pidge. "Underground, which means this place must have some sort of hidden passageway."

"The basement!" Pidge exclaims in a hushed tone. "We just gotta find that—" She pauses, freezing where she stands. Her face is hidden behind her mask but by the tone of her voice, Allura can tell she's worried. "There's a camera."

"Yes, I was just going to tell you, but it's fine, it's—" Allura turns to glance at it again, but freezes where she stands just like Pidge. Unlike before, there's a tiny, blinking purple dot. "—unac...tive." She finishes, her stomach dropping.

_Quiznak._

" _We're being watched_ ," Pidge hisses. Pidge is quickly pulling up the sleeve of her cloak and aiming at the camera with her gauntlet. A quick shot of electricity takes the camera right out, and it crashes to the floor. The camera lens shatters and glass shards litter the floor.

Allura looks frantically and to her horror, there's another camera a few tables away. It also blinks a rapid purple. She's immediately arming herself with her bayard, and there's a flash of pink before her familiar whip lays in hand. Allura's quickly swinging it and slamming the camera sideways, sending it across the room and crashing onto the floor.

"Don't call for an extraction yet!" Allura orders. "We must—"

She doesn't even finish her sentence because before she even has the time to register it, her right foot is kicked out and she is immediately stumbling to regain herself, right into the trap and taking a crushing blow to the stomach. The air is knocked right out of her lungs and she hits the floor on her side with a heavy THUD. Her bayard skids across the floor, out of reach. Her arm throbs painfully and she groans, but she's forcing herself up when her opponent's shadow comes into view.

Her attacker stands over her, weapon in hand and aimed at Allura. The sunlight hits from behind them, so she can't get a good look at their face. What she can see, though, is the glowing purple eyes from them, and they're slitted pupils.

Those are not the eyes of a Galra.

" _Galra,_ " The attacker sneers—a girl, Allura realizes—and she raises the weapon overhead. This confirms Allura's suspicion. She thinks _they're_ the bad guys.

"No," Allura says. _You've got it wrong._

"Allura!" Pidge shouts before she has the chance to even clarify. The green paladin is rushing towards her, bayard activated. She's already aiming at the girl. The girl is bringing down her weapon to strike Allura.

 _"Wait!"_ She cries, she doesn't know if she's talking to Pidge or the girl anymore, but Pidge is already firing. The green cord is wrapping itself around the girl's wrist and her purple eyes grow wide as she's yanked back, but she doesn't drop her weapon.

The girl growls, planting her feet in and twisting in the direction she's being pulled so she's facing Pidge instead of Allura. She manages to use that momentum to rapidly switch hands and transfer the weapon to her left hand. The girl is charging at Pidge and swings her weapon—a staff—at her.

"Wait, no! STOP!" 

Pidge releases her wrist as the girl strikes, ducking just in time for the staff to swing overhead. She is immediately kicking at her feet but the girl jumps over and jabs at Pidge, this time hitting her square in the face so hard her mask cracks.

A gasp tears itself right out of Allura's mouth.

Pidge staggers back and hits the wall with such force Allura's surprised she even moves again. The Torweian girl charges at her with a cry and is swinging just as Pidge is tearing off the druid mask and aiming at the girl with her bayard, electricity sparking from the tip. There's a wild snarl on her face and Allura realizes it's going to get ugly if she doesn't interfere.

"ENOUGH!" Allura commands, her voice booming in the empty restaurant. It echoes right off the walls and the two of them freeze in place. 

Pidge's bayard is only inches from the girl's throat, and the Torweian girl's staff is merely inches away from bashing Pidge's skull in. They hold a stare before the girl is lowering her weapon and taking a step back from Pidge. 

"You're the paladins," The girl says, out of breath. She sounds a lot younger now than before. Only now, Allura realizes she's pretty much a little over Pidge's height.

"Yeah," Pidge confirms, also catching her breathe. "We are."

"And you?" Allura asks.

The Torweian girl glances back to look at Allura, her feline-like eyes still glowing in the dark. "I'm Erdanu, the one who set up the signal. And I need your help."

 

**Author's Note:**

> This book will deal with some more mature themes. I'll make sure to tag trigger warnings in those chapters.


End file.
